A vote by the city council in Mobile, Alabama, has moved the Gulf Coast one step closer to a resumption of Amtrak service.
News outlets report that members voted 6-1 on Tuesday to approve a grant application for restoring passenger train service to the city.
The train would link New Orleans and Mobile twice daily with stops in Mississippi in Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulfport, and Bay St. Louis.
Mobile would be asked to pay $3 million over three years, and the state could be asked to help. The states of Louisiana and Mississippi have already committed millions.
Amtrak service ceased along the coast after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.